HONG KONG, Feb 21 Falls in PetroChina and
Sinopec shares hurt Hong Kong and mainland markets early Friday,
as investors took profit on their outsized gains the previous
day as scepticism lingers on how much China's state-owned
enterprises will be reformed.

Losses on the day threaten to erase weekly gains for Hong
Kong markets while flattening A-share indexes, with doubts
growing about durability about their rebound from January
troughs with the latest macroeconomic indicator flashing amber.

At midday, the Shanghai Composite Index was down 1
percent, while the CSI300 of the largest Shanghai and
Shenzhen A-share listings shed 0.8 percent. On the week, the
first was up 0.1 percent and the second down 1.2 percent.

The Hang Seng Index rose 0.4 percent to 22,486.2
points, while the China Enterprises Index slipped 0.2
percent. On the week, they were up 0.8 and 0.2 percent,
respectively.

Sinopec shares had jumped about 10 percent in both markets
on Thursday as investors cheered plans to sell up to 30 percent
of its retail oil business to private investors in a move seen
as the first signs of reform at a state-owned enterprise.

"People are coming back to their senses on Sinopec," said
Hong Hao, chief strategist at Bank of Communication
International. "The move to spin off its marketing arm is
positive for margins, but probably not as significant as people
think it could be for the company."

"It's a good signal that Beijing sent about its desire to do
something about state-owned enterprises, but it's a little too
early to get too carried away about ownership reform," Hong
added.

PetroChina had gained 2.5 percent in Hong Kong and 4.7
percent in Shanghai on Thursday.

On Friday, Lenovo Group was another big index
drag, diving 3 percent after Bank of America-Merrill Lynch
became the latest brokerage to downgrade it on concerns about
the long turnaround period after its Motorola Mobility purchase.

NEW YORK, Dec 9 Country star Garth Brooks is in
discussions to perform at the inauguration of U.S.
President-elect Donald Trump, the singer's representative said
on Friday, as organizers of the event denied media reports that
they were struggling to find A-list stars to take part.

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